Taking effect on Oct. 1, the federal government shutdown is blowing through several federal departments and programs that San José State students use for research grants and veteran resources.
Marc d’Alarcao, the vice president of research and innovation at SJSU, said the university saw the largest impact of the shutdown hit federal research grants.
“We have many hundreds of people, including students, faculty, and staff, employed to conduct research on funds allocated by the federal government that is not currently flowing,” d’Alarcao said. “For now, we are able to fund their salaries and expenses from Research Foundation reserves, but if the shutdown goes on for too long, their pay could be at risk.”
Last year, SJSU was awarded nearly $4 million in federal funding for nine research projects, according to the Dec. 11, 2024 SJSU NewsCenter article.
SJSU has already lost five grants worth more than $3.5 million, according to a July 28 San José Spotlight article.
Jessica Trask, interim associate vice president of research at SJSU, said all nine colleges in the university have projects funded by the federal government.
“We are using financial reserves at the (SJSU) Research Foundation to cover federal expenses right now,” said Trask. “We are pretty confident that we can continue to use those reserves as the shutdown continues.”
Trask said that the foundation has its own financial system separate from SJSU because of its non-profit status.
The foundation has supported students and staff’s research projects, identified funding sources, grant proposals and published details when projects are funded, according to the Research Foundation webpage.
“We are just very fortunate that we are able to use a combination of federal money that we can access and our Research Foundation funds to keep that research going, even though the government has shut down,” Trask said.
The length of the government shutdown is unknown, but some programs will continue because of advanced funding while others cannot, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures webpage.
There will be no new funding for mandatory programs funded through the annual appropriations process, while funding for mandatory programs like the Children’s Health Insurance Program will continue, according to the same webpage.
Sonia Lizama-Orduña, SJSU basic needs coordinator of benefits, said in an email sent to the Spartan Daily that SNAP benefits for this month are not impacted from the government shutdown for the time being.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a federal program that helps low-income families to afford groceries to get their nutritional needs for their health and well being, according to the SNAP website.
Students at SJSU can use CalFresh and SNAP benefits loaded onto an EBT card to help afford food, according to the SJSU Cares website.
“At this time, we have confirmation that for the month of October benefits will not be impacted, however I don’t have additional information to provide at this time,” Lizama-Orduña said.
The SJSU Accessible Education Center said in an email that their funding was not disrupted and all their services were not affected.
“We have not experienced any changes to our funding, all accommodations, services, and auxiliary aid continue without disruption,” Ignacia Villavelazquez-Hill said.
Noah Cortezano, a second-year professional flight student and dependent outreach coordinator for the Veterans Resource Center, said military benefit payments are being dispersed.
“I know for a fact that payment disbursement for Post-9/11, Montgomery G.I. Bill, Chapter 31 Veterans Readiness and Employment and Chapter 35 Education Assistance is not affected,” Cortezano said.
The Veterans Resource Center assists veterans, dependents, with their state and federal education benefits, certification and aid in transitioning from military to education, according to the center’s website.
Cortezano said the GI Bill hotline is a major resource for the center but it is currently unavailable.
“We would usually refer them to the GI Bill hotline if our office cannot assist with it, but since the government shut down and the lack of appropriations,” Cortezano said. “The GI Bill hotline is currently not manned.”
The GI Bill hotline is used for veterans and dependents to call regarding education and training benefits and services, according to the VA website.
The Department of Veteran Affairs issued their VA contingency planning on their website.
Transition program assistance and career counseling, regional offices are closed and there is no grounds maintenance or placement of headstones at VA cemeteries because of the shutdown, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs website.
“However, we do still offer support through our student organization,” Cortezano said. “We help veterans with whatever they really need help with.”
